The Three Thorns – Part 1

It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. Genesis 3:18

In Scripture there are three thorns that paint a picture of redemption. Let’s look at them and see what we can learn. 1) A thorn-cursed creation. When Adam and Eve sinned, God said,
‘Cursed is the ground for your sake…thorns…it shall bring forth for you…In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground’ (vv. 17-19). Everything changed for us in that moment. Roses began to grow thorns, fellowship with God was broken and man, who was born to live forever, began to die. It was tragic, but God had a solution. 2) A thorn-crowned Savior. ‘When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head…’ (Matthew 27:29). The curse that fell in a garden was lifted in a garden! When God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, He placed an angel with a flaming sword at the gate to prevent them from ever re-entering it. But at the cross Christ, the last Adam, was cut down by the sword of God’s judgment, becoming our Savior and substitute, and securing our salvation. Now we can re-enter God’s presence. What did Adam lose? Fellowship with God, immortality and sinless perfection. At the cross Christ reclaimed and restored all these to us.‘ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Notice the words, ‘in Christ’. Thirty-one times in the New Testament we read these same words. That’s one for every day of the month. Rejoice! God loves and accepts you ‘in Christ’.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for doing what You did so that I can be “in Christ”. In Jesus’ Name, Amen